I will note that the Amazon works great. I got that and now have resolution on my old Emerson TV. Ironically I can get more display modes with the AV only connection, but the component one looks better.

I used

Yellow -> Green
White -> Blue
Red -> Red

for using the Amazon AV cable to connect the component elements. It took some trial and error to figure that out, so hopefully this helps someone else benefits by knowing it.

This seems like another overpriced addon option from Tivo (think DVR expanders) that could have been solved by using standard items.

I do have much more cable there than I would like, but that will go back out of the way once I rearrange my setup later on.

I had an old Tivo breakout cable from years past that seems to work with the Mini.

The colors are a bit off as White/Yellow seem to be swapped (or at least yellow is one of the audio's, dunno if it's R or L yet ).

Anyway, I have the two audio chans hooked up to my receiver's input (it's an old one w/o HDMI). For most TV channels, I get audio out of both speakers. When I'm in the Tivo menu though and clicking around, the Tivo ding/bong only comes to the right speaker though.

Also, some shows/channels appear to only have sound in the right speaker.

You are using the wrong type of cable. Each port has three outputs: one port has audioR, audioL, and composite video; the other has component video (red,green,blue). You are using a cable for a port with only two outputs and the video is mixing in with the audio. Probably best to use the breakout AV cable sold by Tivo.

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I'm getting the horrid buzz WITH the tivo branded breakout cable. BOOOOO. Any fix for this? If not I'll have to return the mini. ..

I'm getting the horrid buzz WITH the tivo branded breakout cable. BOOOOO. Any fix for this? If not I'll have to return the mini. ..

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I don't have their cable, but I used 2 from Amazon and they work fine. I did have to play around a bit to get them matched the right way, but mine have white, red and yellow for both of them. I currently have red to off red, white to blue and yellow to green, in case that helps. Everything is fine.

If you still have problems it is likely a problem with the cable, mini or your TV. Get the right one replaced and it should work fine.

I don't have their cable, but I used 2 from Amazon and they work fine. I did have to play around a bit to get them matched the right way, but mine have white, red and yellow for both of them. I currently have red to off red, white to blue and yellow to green, in case that helps. Everything is fine.

If you still have problems it is likely a problem with the cable, mini or your TV. Get the right one replaced and it should work fine.

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Thanks for the reply.

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the horrid buzz you experienced was fixed by experimentally swapping where the plugs of the breakout cables were plugged into your TV until you found a configuration that worked?

My understanding was your buzz was coming from the A/V plug (breaks out to left, right, and composite video), not the component video plug. The component video is working fine for me, but I am getting the horrible buzz from the A/V plug. I will try swapping the wires around but since I'm using the Tivo brand wires and taking red --> red and white --> white it seems like that should have worked. I'm getting stereo sound, but with a loud background buzz.

I know it's not the A/V receiver because it plays other sources fine through that input. I do have another cable set because I accidentally bought two; I will try the other cable.

If that doesn't work I guess I will return the mini for a replacement. Maybe something is shorted out internally.

Here's another random factoid: in the course of troubleshooting, I tried plugging in a two-conductor (earphones) miniplug into the A/V Breakout jack, and there are positions of that plug (partial insertion) that yield clean mono or stereo sound with no buzzing. However, there is NO position or amount of manipulation of the Tivo-branded three-conductor plug that gives clean audio. (unfortunately, full insertion of the two-conductor plug leads to buzzing, so that is not a permanent solution).

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the horrid buzz you experienced was fixed by experimentally swapping where the plugs of the breakout cables were plugged into your TV until you found a configuration that worked?

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I don't remember exactly what happened, I just remember that I had some big troubles until I got things plugged in right. YMMV of course.

It could be that this does not apply to your situation. It would be nice to try a replacement audio cable in your case. Your description here does make it sound like either the cable or that port in the Mini is messed up.

Does the TV have just the red/white/yellow connectors? Have you tried that? How does the sound work in that case? It would seem to imply the problem was outside the cable and Mini port if that worked.

I don't remember exactly what happened, I just remember that I had some big troubles until I got things plugged in right. YMMV of course.

It could be that this does not apply to your situation. It would be nice to try a replacement audio cable in your case. Your description here does make it sound like either the cable or that port in the Mini is messed up.

Does the TV have just the red/white/yellow connectors? Have you tried that? How does the sound work in that case? It would seem to imply the problem was outside the cable and Mini port if that worked.

hsawtelle, not to scare you, but your symptoms are likely caused by improper grounding... either in the cable system, or in your home's electrical system. The differences in the level of "ground" causes the hum.

On the cable tv side, they used to drive a rod into the ground and attach it at the point of entry. More commonly these days, in residential settings I've seen a grounding wire run to a water pipe in the basement. (Google pictures of coax splitters and you'll find lots that have a ground screw on em.)

Long-term, the current flowing through anything connected to the two systems probably isnt going to be super healthy for them.

Google "ground loop" and "open ground"

A friend of mine, a good number of years back, blew up lots of equipment until they diagnosed that his whole house mis-wired, was trying to dump a lot of power into ground, and wasn't grounded... *boom* goes the cable box, receiver, tv, poor cable installer guy who got zapped, etc.

To quote wikipedia:
"In an electrical system, a ground loop usually refers to a current, almost always unwanted, in a conductor connecting two points that are supposed to be at the same potential, often ground, but are actually at different potentials.

Some of the most notorious effects of ground loops are the noise and interference that can become present in audio, video, and radio transmission systems. They can also create an electric shock hazard, since ostensibly "grounded" parts of the equipment, which are often accessible to users, are not at ground potential."

hsawtelle, not to scare you, but your symptoms are likely caused by improper grounding... either in the cable system, or in your home's electrical system. The differences in the level of "ground" causes the hum.

On the cable tv side, they used to drive a rod into the ground and attach it at the point of entry. More commonly these days, in residential settings I've seen a grounding wire run to a water pipe in the basement. (Google pictures of coax splitters and you'll find lots that have a ground screw on em.)

Long-term, the current flowing through anything connected to the two systems probably isnt going to be super healthy for them.

Google "ground loop" and "open ground"

A friend of mine, a good number of years back, blew up lots of equipment until they diagnosed that his whole house mis-wired, was trying to dump a lot of power into ground, and wasn't grounded... *boom* goes the cable box, receiver, tv, poor cable installer guy who got zapped, etc.

To quote wikipedia:
"In an electrical system, a ground loop usually refers to a current, almost always unwanted, in a conductor connecting two points that are supposed to be at the same potential, often ground, but are actually at different potentials.

Some of the most notorious effects of ground loops are the noise and interference that can become present in audio, video, and radio transmission systems. They can also create an electric shock hazard, since ostensibly "grounded" parts of the equipment, which are often accessible to users, are not at ground potential."

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Not scared. Thanks for the info.

I've lived here 10 years with many devices hooked up to cable & power; nothing fried (or failed to work for that matter) yet, so I don't think my issue is as severe as what you've described.

Swapping my Comcast box for this Tivo Mini is the first time the problem has come up in 10 years. I'm sure the problem is likely systemic, but if I can fix it at the one point it's causing trouble, I'm totes going for it.

I'm going to try hooking it up at the Tivo Mini (since this is the only place in my house where the ground loop is a problem). Don't know if it will work, or if it does whether it will kill MoCA.

If that doesn't work, I think an HDMI -> DVI adapter should do it. I have a DVI in on the TV, and I've never had any banding with that input. And I have the audio sorted separately as explained above.

I have learned a lot!

Good luck

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Final update: the cable ground loop isolator (Amazon link above) worked great and solved the audio buzzing AND video banding issues. I screwed it right into the back of the Mini and screwed the coax into the isolator. MoCA connection is still strong.